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Sorry if someone else had a question for this week too, but I've been wondering about this one for a long time. My 3-year-old stopped taking naps about 6 months ago and it was a sad transition (mostly for me!). She was always more happy with a rest in the day and it was nice to have some time where I could be by myself or play with our baby one-on-one. But, someone gave me the wise advice of transitioning no nap time into "quiet time". Some activities have worked better than others for us, but our recent favorite is having her listen to books-on-tape (or CD) from the library. She loves doing it and after working on it for a while she will now be entertained for almost an hour. I think it's really important for kids to learn how to entertain themselves, but I've found few toys/activities that keep her occupied. What do your kids like to do by themselves for little breaks? Have you found ways to make quiet time work at your house?
4 comments:
Well my 2 year old has decided that she is done with naps, and really she sleeps better at night if she doesn't take a nap. Everyday she whines about quiet time (I still call it nap time because the baby goes down at the same time), and luckily for me she goes with my line of reasoning "If we don't take a nap then we can't wake up and go to the park..." that always works. I send her to her room and leave out things I don't mind her playing in/with. Her dress up box, her princess's, books, I leave the blinds up so she can see out, and her stuffed animals, she loves to make them talk to each other. It has worked great.
I think quiet time is really important, for kids, and especially moms! A long time ago, my sister started "Siesta" with her kids, she has 4 and it worked brilliantly. Just calling it something other than quiet time, or nap time worked really good. Each kid has their own spot (their bed, couch, mom's bed... etc.) and she tells them "You don't have to fall asleep, but here are something you CAN do) and then she gives them coloring books, books to read, little games that are quiet, a journal, whatever depending on age of the child. Then she sets the timer on her stove for an hour or so. Most of the time, her kids (especially the younger ones) end up falling asleep. And if they don't fall asleep, at least they've had some time to relax, be quiet, and re-energize. Now her kids are much older (the youngest is 6) so they just have Sunday Siesta now, but when they were little, it really worked like a charm! I am for sure incorporating that when the dreadful day comes of no naps!
I also struggle with quiet time. I think it would be ok if I only had one child participating but with 2 it's never truly a quiet time but rather a fighting time! They always want the same toy!! But some things that have been entertaining to play in their room have been legos, a marble run, train tracks, car mat, play figures (princess dolls, dinosaurs, little people, transformers), and puzzles. Pretty much anything they can play with together!
Ian is still taking naps, thank goodness! But he fights me a lot now so I think we are heading toward the no nap phase! A friend of mine has kids who are a little older and they have quiet time. She has a few toys that are only "Quiet time toys" to make the time more special. Their 4 year old boy has a little hand held electronic learning toy that his is quiet time toy. He will sit in his room and play it (she can turn off the sound!). I thought that was a good idea.
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